Sunday, April 29, 2012

With industry suits convinced that the most effective way to expand gaming is by making simpler, less dynamic experiences to appeal to an uninitiated majority, publishers are going bonkers trying to cash in on cheaper games. In fact, for all its Zen-like appeal, Nintendo's Blue Ocean philosophy boils down to a neo-hippie way of saying that they’re embracing the casual market.

We didn’t realize that meant re-branding old games, but here we are dealing with Magnetica. Or Puzz Loop. Or Zuma. Or Luxor. Whatever you want to call it, this is little more than an eight year-old puzzle game newly minted for your DS. And as you’d guess, it’s just as good or bad as it’s always been.

The only meaningful difference between Magnetica and any of its PC kin is its use of the DS touch screen. You swipe a quick line with your stylus from the marble launcher to a coiling line of marbles to break them. Depending on the color of the marbles further along the coil, chain reactions can occur.

However, trying to set up longer, more interesting chain reactions is the best way to lose in Magnetica, since the coil of marbles is always pushing toward the center and if they reach it, it’s game over. Any marbles you fire into the coil that don't break on impact get lodged there, thus pushing the coil one marble's width closer to the center. There's no way to shift marbles around in the queue, so you're forced to toss whatever pops up at the coil. When a game limits obvious options like this to ramp up the difficulty, it only makes it more frustrating.

Another frustration is the inaccuracy of the stylus compared to a mouse. There's plenty of room for misfires, espdcially at long range, so you'll spend much of your time in Magnetica the same as you did when you first picked it up - quickly and mindlessly hurling marbles from the launcher, breaking up the simplest pairs of like-colors that are closest to the center for basic progress. Occasionally you’ll plot out some bigger chains, but that’s pretty rare.

complicate matters, the game doesn’t do a very good job utilizing the two screens. Your big, wonky hand obscures a good deal of the touch screen, making it hard to recognize combos when you can't see half of what you're dealing with. Just your score and some stats occupy the top screen, instead of, say, a queue of upcoming marbles or even a graphical representation of the whole board for an easy, quick glance at all the combos.

The game’s main Challenge mode starts out easy, with just a few marble colors, so combo chains happen for anything you do outside of hitting pause. The more marbles you break, the more colors are introduced, making it more of an endurance test than anything. Puzzle mode has sixty different marble sequences, each with only one set of marbles in the launcher per sequence. The objective is always the same: break all the marbles while using every marble in the launcher. It's fun to stare at the DS screen for a while, crunching away at all the possibilities, but the exercise skews too heavily on the trial-and-error side. Lastly, Quest mode is the same game you were playing in Challenge mode, except the shape of the coils change a couple of degrees each round.

The whole experience provides some light, decent fun, but after about an hour, you'll get tired of playing alone and try to suck someone else in with some wireless single-cart play. Versus mode introduces a bunch of random power-ups, which you can trigger with marbles to attack the other player’s screen. It s a nice idea, but falls a little flat. You'll get all sorts of marginally interesting items, like the ability to define where the “obscuring clouds of smoke” weapon will appear on your opponent's screen, but taking your stylus away from the launcher can cost you valuable time. It just isn’t that fun.

Magnetica's delivery isn't as clean or tight as its web-based counterparts, either. The brightly colored marbles stand out against the stark, plain steel of the backgrounds, giving it a weird aesthetic. The muzak tracks are mellow enough to let you fall into the game, but distracting enough to turn off after the fiftieth loop.

Nintendo certainly knows Magnetica's audience…or do they? When Magnetica is advertised on the same page as its clone, you have to wonder if market research shows that casual gamers don't investigate their games beyond seeing a bunch of primary colors.

Well, maybe that’s what we’re here for. Though Magnetica is a decent little puzzler, it’s also available all over the Internet in a million different versions, almost all of which are cheaper than this full $34.99 price tag. You're intelligent enough of a consumer to know that makes this a hard sell, and in this case, knowing is half the puzzle.

RPGamer interviewed former Square Enix translator, Tom Slattery, covering his beginnings in the business, how he gained a full-time translating position at Square, a little insight as to what their localization process was like, and also a few of the games he worked on.

With regard to specific games, the case of Final Fantasy IV DS was an interesting one in particular. Square initially only required that the existing text for IV from the Game Boy Advance be touched up. IV just so happened to be Slattery’s favourite Final Fantasy, however, and he asked that he be allowed to write the DS version’s translation from scratch.

“I ended up putting forth a case for doing a new localization from scratch–offering to do it in the span of the original schedule–and obtained approval,” Slattery shares. “Fortunately, they decided to expand the project schedule to allow me enough time to do a retranslation without having to sleep under my desk.”

Slattery also reveals a few of the changes he made to the new translation, such as renaming the term used for the game’s summons.

“The Mysidian legend was also something I had wanted to update badly, as previous translations had failed to convey effectively what it referenced,” he shares. “The naming related to summons was another. Every other Final Fantasy had given them a name–Espers, Eidolons, Guardian Forces–but Final Fantasy IV simply called them ‘summons,’ or ‘summoned monsters’. ‘Esper’ had just been revived for XII and ‘Eidolon’ hadn’t seen any love outside of IX, so I brought it back for IV and then for XIII as well.”

“All things considered, Final Fantasy IV DS was my most enjoyable project at Square Enix,” Slattery recalls. “The team was amazingly kind and supportive. They put translation credits in the opening movie, which is almost unheard of. They added the localization staff to the hidden Developer’s Room. The director, Mr. Tokita, even suggested I do a cameo voice in the game as he had done in the Japanese version (I’m the "Lord Captain! Monsters at the fore!" in the opening scene). The reasonable schedule also kept things from ever getting too stressful.”

Crytek,the developes behind the most successful sci-fi Video Game Crysis announced the release of Crysis 3 teaser,The Crysis 3 set to be released by 2013.The gameplay trailer will be released on April 24.if you are interested in pre-ordering the PC gameon Origin visit here.

There may be a confusion between a Nerd's and Geek's,This Infographic will get you determine which category you belongs based on common traits found between Nerds and Geeks.Interstingly the Infographic states that 31% of people think that Geeks have more chance of being successful in life and only 24% of the people comfortable with calling them as Nerd.

Likely nerd jobs:

Rocket scientist

Reclusive and renowned professor

Computer programmer

Engineer

IT professional

Inventor

Or work at a video store

Likely geek jobs:

Web design/development

IT professional

Marketer

Graphic designer

Game designer/developer

Barista at an indie coffee shop

Entrepreneur

Record store

Bartender

General Stats:

17% of Americans identify as geeks

65% of video game designers identify as geeks

50% of technology engineers identify as geeks

37% of bloggers identify as geeks

87% of people prefer the word "geek" over "nerd"

66% of millennials think "geek" is a compliment

45% of people believe geeks are early adopters

31% of people believe geeks have a higher chance of being successful

On average, self-identifed geeks have a better view of themselves than others view geeks

41% of people would be comfortable called a geek while only 24% would be comfortable called a nerd

A geek would rather be called a geek over a hipster (23% are OK with being called hipster while 41% are OK with being called a geek)

With symmetry you can create balance, which makes your blog design embark with order, harmony and beauty. You can find symmetry everywhere and perhaps this is the reason why it makes it vital for your website to go in accordance with it. If symmetry brings beauty, yet at times can appear static and boring, at such junctures the idea of asymmetry proves to be a break in symmetry. All you need to do is use the factor of asymmetry effectively to see interesting results. Using these ideas effectively can help the designer to add spark in his or her design. In fact, these can be used as tool if you understand the ideas, tips and best practices to embark with cool blog designs.

Why symmetry is important

You may find any website or blog look cool with pleasing content and rich design; however, as you enter inside the inner web pages you may realize it lacks the element of symmetry. Every web page has a different design. You could see a big image which distracts the visitors; you can hardly see any words since they are too overwhelming. The other web page has some content but is seen sitting just at the bottom either left or right side of the page. You hardly see anything at the top line or on the left side. This is how a typical site without symmetry looks like. Thus your initial good feeling about this blog or website goes away. In order to embark with effective website or blog design, it is important to use symmetry effectively. It plays a key role in designing any blog or website since it creates balance, stability and harmony.

Using symmetry gives a pleasing experience to users

One of the best ways of giving visitors a pleasurable experience is to ensure that every web page has the same kind of framework. In this way, when they visit your inner pages, they see everything organized with things like title, menus and logos all situated at the same place. The background color should be the same at every web page. You may choose to make your blog different and unique, but at the same time have to abide by the rules of website symmetry at all the web pages. This can be achieved by starting with your home or main page and then use this page as your template for other web pages design work. In fact the other or inner web pages just have few small changes to be made, but what you get at the end is a symmetrical design which is pleasing for any visitor coming to your blog.

Symmetry vs. Asymmetry

Using symmetry or asymmetry in your design can depend upon your personal preferences and project requirements. Hence you can opt for anyone which suits your blog design the best. However, there are some general rules to use either. Generally speaking, the symmetrical objects visually are light weighted; this is why you will see this technique being used for places like patterns, backgrounds or anything which you require to control the visual effects of the design.

If your blog design requires stability and a robust organizational structure then you need a symmetrical design in your blog. It gives a safe feeling to your blog design. On the contrary, if you are looking out to break the monotony of your web design then you can try to reinforce asymmetry in it. The factor of asymmetry can add some spark elements to a visually safe design.[/color]

The website symmetry acts as a very strong tool in your design projects. By effectively using it you can maintain a perfect balance, stability and beauty. It gives a message of professionalism and solidarity and its improper use can mar the visual effects of your blog.